1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to stringed instruments played with the use of plectrums, or "picks", such as guitars, and, more particularly, to a novel pick dispenser which may be built into, or retrofitted to, the bodies of such musical instruments so that replacement picks are readily accessible.
2. Background Art
Plucked stringed instruments are ancient and include lyres, guitars, and mandolins. When the strings of such instruments are of natural material, they are frequently plucked with the fingertips of the performer. However, when the instruments are wire-strung, and particularly with the modern electric guitars, the strings are usually plucked with a plectrum, or "pick". Such a pick, historically, was a lozenge-shaped spatula of a hard, flexible material, such as tortoise shell or metal, held in the performer's hand and struck across one or more strings. Today, however, such picks are usually made of somewhat flexible plastic materials.
A problem frequently experienced by performers of the latter type of such instruments, especially those instruments used for music that requires that the instruments be played rather vigorously, is that the picks break. Picks, being relatively small and smooth, are also often dropped. Since such breakage or droppage occurs during performance, it is essential that the performer be able to quickly replace the broken or dropped pick with a new one. This may necessitate the relatively time-consuming task of reaching into a pocket or instrument case to obtain a new pick of the desired degree of flexibility. During that time interval, of course, the instrument is not being played.
One solution to the problem of pick replacement has been the development of small, spring-loaded pick dispensers which the performer may keep in a pocket or other convenient location. These dispensers may be designed to hold a stack of picks of one degree of flexibility or they may be designed to have two or more stacks of picks of different degrees of flexibility. While these dispensers help somewhat with the problem of ready pick replacement, they suffer from the disadvantage that the dispenser must be found before a pick can be removed therefrom. If the dispenser contains picks of more than one degree of flexibility, it may, additionally, be necessary to determine visually which pick to select.
It would thus be desirable to have a pick dispenser which is always at hand when the instrument is being played and which is a part of instrument, itself.
Accordingly, it is principal object of the present invention to provide pick dispenser for stringed instruments which is integral with the body of the instrument.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a pick dispenser that may be built into the instrument or retrofitted to an existing instrument.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a pick dispenser that is economically and easily manufactured.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.